PayPal China To Debut This Year

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PayPal has confirmed in the WSJ that it will launch PayPal China by the end of this year.

PayPal currently offers a dozen localized Web sites. its growth strategy is simple — follow in eBay’s global footsteps. Last year, eBay migrated its China acquisition, EachNet, over to the eBay platform. Plugging PayPal into the site is the last major hurdle.

Actually, the last major hurdle is to get a hundred million people comfortable shopping online. So it’s no surprise to see eBay kicking in $100 million this year to staff local phone support teams and run TV campaigns. Normally, eBay doesn’t pull out the TV ads until after it’s reasonably successful in the market; but not in China.

What will be interesting to watch is if PayPayl China debuts with support for wireless (cell phone) payments. We’re seeing wireless commerce take hold in Korea. Given the lack of home PCs, limited Internet penetration, and signficant cellular penetration, mobile payments could be a key ingredient to success in this market.